Staying on Top When Your World's Upside Down

“Most people dramatically underestimate what can be influenced when adversity hits, and this underestimation kills the majority of what’s possible. Conversely, becoming utterly obsessed with what you can influence opens worlds of possibilities that others simply don’t see.”
Paul Stoltz and Eric Weihenmayer: The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles into Everyday Greatness

Indian Garden is a beautiful piece of heaven that straddles Bright Angel Trail as it snakes its way from the south rim of the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River nearly eight miles and 5,000 feet below. When you’re coming up from the river hauling a heavy backpack, by the time you reach Indian Garden you’re tired, probably very tired. You stand in the shade of a cottonwood tree for a bit, fill up your water bottle, and then look ahead at the sheer vertical cliff that stands between you and your destination at the top.

“Impossible,” you think, your eyes disbelieving what your mind knows to be true, that there is a trail which will take you up that vertical wall to the village. Looking back down on Indian Garden from the top, you’re likely to smile the tired smile of hard-earned accomplishment, and tell yourself it really wasn’t that difficult after all. The toughest challenge was mental.

The same holds true for riding a bike, taking difficult classes in school, starting a business, or most of life’s other challenges. The hills always seem a lot steeper from the bottom than they do from the top. When you’re at the bottom, if you convince yourself that the hill is too steep to climb, you can be sure it will be. You’ll end up walking the bike, or turning around and going back. On the other hand, it’s amazing how often you can start what seems to be an impossible trek, only to find that a previously hidden path unfolds before you your feet as you climb.